The United Nations Study on Violence against Children

In October 2006, the Independent Expert for the Secretary-General Study on Violence against Children, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil , presented his final report to the UN General Assembly. The Study analyses violence against children in five settings: the home and family; schools and educational settings; care and justice institutions; the work-place; and the community. The Study contains 12 over-arching recommendations and a number of setting specific recommendations that represent a comprehensive framework for follow-up action.

Background

The Study process also resulted in a more detailed World Report on Violence against Children and in child friendly publications. The Study material not available in this page can be found at: www.violencestudy.org

On 19 October 2007, the Independent Expert presented his progress report on the implementation of the Study recommendations to the General-Assembly. Click here to read his statement.

GA resolution A/RES/62/141 established the post of Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children. The resolution encourages the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to cooperate

The study was guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child which emphasizes children's rights to physical and personal integrity, and outlines States parties obligations to protect them from "all forms of physical or mental violence", including sexual and other forms of exploitation, abduction, armed conflict, and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It also obliges the State to enact preventive measures and ensure that all child victims of violence receive the support and assistance they require.

The UN General Assembly called for the study in 2001 acting on the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child . In overseeing the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Committee held two days of general discussion on the issue of violence against children within the family and in school (2001) and state violence against children (2000). The request for an international study on the question of violence against children was an outcome of these days of discussion.

The Study process was supported jointly by OHCHR, UNICEF and WHO.

Questionnaire to Governments

This questionnaire (A | E | F | R | S) is designed to obtain information from Governments for the United Nations Secretary-General’s in-depth Study on the question of violence against children requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 57/190.

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Responses from Governments

Official Responses received from Members States and States, entities and organizations with permanent UN observer status: